Cornhole Board Accessories – Which Ones Are Worth Getting?

As cornhole is growing into a mainstream activity, I’ve noticed that there has been a huge spike in cornhole board accessories and products. There are many companies building a bunch of extra products to sell with their boards, and for the new customer, they might think they are necessity.

Let’s get one thing straight though. All you need for cornhole, is cornhole boards and cornhole bags. I am going to go through some cornhole accessories, and give you some insight to what might be neat or fun to add to your cornhole set, and what is just a gimmick and a waste of your money.

While I want to be critical of some these cornhole accessories and products, I also want to give credit to a few of these companies selling good quality and necessary additions to your cornhole set. Let’s start with the most popular accessories.

Cornhole Night Lights

Cornhole night lights are a ring of LED lights that you install in the hole of your cornhole board to illuminate your target, when playing in the dark. Some companies also sell LED boarder lights to install around the outside of your board that illuminates the entire cornhole board.

So Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Staring directly at LED lights this bright in the dark is extremely bad for your eyes. In fact staring at any light directly damages our retinas. These lights are extremely bright, and the fact that you are getting direct light by staring at the boards all game, makes it worse. Just for that reason alone, I don’t recommend the entire boarder lights with the ring lights for the hole. Along with costing you on average $120 plus shipping, I would say this is more a gimmick and probably not worth your money.

If you wanted to illuminate your target with the ring LED light for the hole, I am more open to this as a cornhole accessory. You only need to look at the light when you are throwing, and they are built to be installed below the surface of the cornhole board, so you can avoid being exposed to the direct light of the super bright LED.

As far as do you “need” them? If you play a lot in the dark then I would say yes. I’ve played with them a few times and with my experience they have helped me throw and see better in the dark. Visually I could see the target clearly, but the brightness of the light mixed with shadows it creates around the board, threw off my depth perception and ability to judge proper throwing distance off a little bit.

At the end of the day I would recommend a set of LED lights for your the holes on your board. They are relatively inexpensive to buy, and extremely quick and easy to install, and they look kinda cool.

(Cornhole Tip: If you do want to get ring lights for your cornhole board, be sure to find high quality lights. I’ve read lots of reviews of poor quality lights falling off the boards after a short period of playing time.)

Cornhole Scoreboard

There are a couple different styles of cornhole scoreboards that I have seen and tried, and to be honest, I still prefer to keep track and just remember and announce the score after every round with the people I am playing with. If you prefer to have a scoreboard or always forget what the score is, then I would say a scoreboard is a smart and worthwhile purchase.

There are some cornhole scoreboards that have dual purposes, like beer and drink holders to assist in your cornhole experience, or you can just get a simple scoreboard that attaches to the back of the cornhole board. I recommend buying a freestanding scoreboard that pushes into the ground, and for $10 more you can get drink holders, which is a no-brainer in my opinion. They are also usually big enough so that they are visible to everyone playing and not just the two people playing on the side the scoreboard is located.

The last scoreboard I would recommend is the beverage cozy that has a scoreboard tracker around the rim. Also known as a “Scorzie.” It’s a must have for almost all out door game enthusiasts and is easy to pack around with your cornhole board and bags.

Cornhole Bags Tote

For some reason the majority of cornhole bags that you buy online don’t come with a carrying bag or tote, which is ridiculous, but if you can find bags that are good quality and that comes with a tote, then that’s the obvious choice. If you end up buying bags that come individually packaged, then buying a cornhole bags tote is a must-have accessory for your cornhole set. You don’t want to have to pack around 8 individual cornhole bags everywhere you go, never mind you will probably lose a bag sooner or later. You can pick up a tote carry bag for around $10.

Cornhole Board Carrying Case and Cover

These two things are not necessities for the average cornhole board owner. You should always pack up your cornhole boards, and store them in a shaded dry spot that is not on the ground. So having a cornhole board cover wouldn’t be used very often and is probably not money well spent.

The only people that a cornhole cover might benefit, is avid campers that need protection for their boards from the sun and rain, if they are being exposed for days on end. If you do use the covers, I would recommend that you don’t leave your boards laying down in grass or dirt for extended period of times. Even with protective clear coat on high quality boards, the grass or dirt will stain the board, and potentially start to rot at the points of contact.

The cornhole board carrying case is another very niche item that most people would not benefit from. I would only recommend this product to people who do not have a garage or shed to store their cornhole boards long term, and don’t want the weather tarnishing their boards year-round.

Make Up Your Own Mind

At the end of the day, only you can decide what accessories might be beneficial to you, and which products are gimmicks and a waste of your money. I recommend you look into all of them, because they do have a place in your set if you are a serious cornhole gamer, and don’t mind spending a little money to be prepared for every situation that comes your way.